Chapter 826

Chapter 826

Davey knew something about his body had changed as a residual effect of embracing the madness. He figured it must be what made it possible for him to see beyond the rift Thanatos had opened and closed.

Through that opening, Davey caught a glimpse of what was happening.

He saw Eclipse’s body, trapped and sucked into the collapsing Abyss, disintegrating piece by piece. Her soul, once imprisoned within her body, was now separated and suffering. Watching her soul slowly fade into the space was not an experience Davey wanted to endure.

He owed her his life—not once, but twice. He didn’t want her to get caught in the endless collapse after all she’d done for him.

Davey knew he could briefly halt the Abyss from collapsing if he used all of the remaining vitality force from Thanatos' divinity, creating a brief moment to tear open the dimension and rescue her. However, doing so would mean that he wouldn’t be able to lengthen the lifetimes of all the dimensions currently lacking vitality.

Rationally, he knew the right choice was just to let her go. But deep down, the feelings he harbored for her complicated things.

He couldn’t come up with an answer easily. Her soul was getting encroached, and there wasn’t much time left.

Finally, when Davey was about to release the power of the card in his hand, someone stopped him.

A large man dressed in animal skins appeared. Seeing him, the first wave of emotions Davey felt was a mix of surprise, relief, and confusion.

He had no clue why the man had shown up in front of him. But another thought also struck him—

‘Now’s my chance to pierce a bamboo spear into his abdomen!’

Eclipse lay in Hercules’ arms with an exhausted face, though she had a faint smile with tears streaming down. Davey stood in a daze, watching Hercules hold her with a pained expression as though she were something precious.

"This is enough," Hercules said to someone else.

Davey quickly came to his senses and turned his head. A figure descended beside him and slowly passed by. They weren’t Rinne, but someone similar. It was the Goddess Freyja—the very source of this world.

The entire world froze upon her descent.

Only then did Davey realize that time itself had stopped. He assumed the reason he could still move was likely due to his divinity.

Goddess Freyja approached the two, who both remained silent, and gently wrapped them in the wings that sprouted from her back. She embraced them softly, and as she did, the souls of Hercules and Eclipse began to dissolve, disappearing together.

"Thank you for keeping your promise,” Hercules said softly.

Goddess Freyja said nothing and simply watched as the two souls vanished. Afterward, she walked out of the collapsing world and turned her gaze to Davey.

"Are those two gone?" Davey asked.

Without saying a word, she extended her hand and took his.

Zzt!!

[Who the hell are you, spying on someone while they're bathing? Get lost!]

[Like hell I wanted to see you bathe. I’m here because there's an urgent meeting, and I’ve been sent to drag your lazy lizard ass back to work.]

[You got a death wish? Want me to end you?]

[Go ahead and try, you damn reptile.]

[Sigh... Whatever. Why am I even bothering with a weak Horne like you?]

A brief but vivid hallucination filled his mind. He saw two figures: a small girl bathing in a moonlit lake, and a large man openly irritated with her.

[It’s this way.]

[No, it’s this way.]

[You know, you always say the opposite of what I say.]

[That’s my line. You fool!]

The two, Eclipse and Hercules, glared at each other, both stubbornly defending their own opinions.

[Stay still!! Can’t you see how badly injured you are?! I clearly told you not to go!]

[Hahaha, cough. The important thing is that I’m alive. You should be grateful to me for the rest of your life!]

Eclipse was tightly holding onto Hercules who was covered in blood, shouting and crying while he lay in her arms.

The illusion continued. Unfamiliar landscapes, things Davey had never seen before, and even strange new species appeared. He assumed they were likely humans from an ancient civilization that existed long ago.

[Marriage? Are you out of your mind?]

[You expect me to marry that ill-tempered little runt? Are you crazy?]

[Who you calling a runt?! You wanna die?!]

[Who else would I be talking about?! There’s no way I’m marrying you! Even if it's for the sake of unity among the races, I’m not going through with it! I’d rather marry another ancient dragon than—]

[You bastard!!]

The same thing was happening in the Demon World.

The Killer Rabbits, one of the ancient demon beasts, unexpectedly saved the demons who had been isolated from their allies. They were able to hold back the knights’ attack. However, there were still limits to how much they could do. Though powerful, even the Killer Rabbits struggled to neutralize the armored knights—they just couldn’t seem to kill them.

But a radiant pillar of light appeared above the towering mountain range, and the demons stood in awe as the armored knights pressuring them crumbled and vanished in the waves of light.

Everyone realized that the end of this long battle had come with the divine revelation of someone beyond their understanding.

"Arita... That revelation just now..." a demon whispered, still catching their breath.

“It was likely Goddess Freyja, the one humans worship,” Arita replied.

But she knew full well that Goddess Freyja, the one worshiped by humans, was in fact the same deity the demons revered.

"Ha... So we survived?" Arita sighed in relief, hearing the muttering of another demon leaning on their weapon for support.

“I don’t know what’s happening, honestly... But at least we made it through..."

With that, everything tied to the Abyss across the entire continent disappeared.

* * *

"Mother!!!" Kain shouted, running frantically toward Illyna, collapsing into her arms.

“Thanatos!! Thanatos has disappeared!”

Kain had two personalities.

His younger, more childlike personality was currently in control—the one that regarded Illyna as a mother figure, far different from his other personality when working with Davey. Illyna gestured with her finger for him to quiet down, eliciting an immature harrumph from him.

“I know, Kain.”

"W-What?" Kain stammered, surprised.

She then glanced over to where a young man lay resting peacefully on a bed.

It was none other than Davey, the first prince of the Rowane Kingdom, who had long since given up his claim to the throne to become a grand duke.

"Please, be quiet for now so that Davey can rest.”

Kain hesitated, then nodded at her words. Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, standing nearby, approached and mimicked Illyna’s gesture with their fingers to their lips.

“Shhh...”

“Shhh...”

Kain blinked in confusion in the face of their cuteness.

"Do beings who’ve obtained divinity also dream?" Aeria asked softly as she looked at Davey, who was sleeping peacefully.

“I suppose they do,” Illyna replied.

“What do you think he’s dreaming of right now?” Aeria continued.

All three women fell silent, their gazes resting on his calm expression.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s a nightmare,” Perserque murmured.

Indeed, his face looked so peaceful, as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sleep so comfortably,” Illyna said.

“I think... this is probably the first time he’s truly rested since waking from his coma,” Perserque said.

At her response, Illyna made a bitter face.

Just then, Aeria looked toward the window and spoke up. "By the way... is it already time for sunset?”

"Hm?"

"Why does it look like the sun is setting?"

It was still early, a time when the sky should be bright. Yet the sun was setting outside. The three stared outside the window blankly for a while. The sky was lit in an orange as if the sun had weakened.

"When Davey returned...”

He had said that Thanatos had tried to stop sunrises, but he managed to prevent that from happening. But now, the sight outside didn’t match what they had expected.

"Something’s not right... Is something missing? Or... is there another problem?" Perserque muttered.

Unfortunately for them, the truth was closer to the latter. None of them were aware that the world was collapsing far faster than they could have ever imagined. The process that should take three years was accelerating, threatening the world’s very existence.

The time when Davey would need to unleash his divinity—reset all civilization across the world to resolve this, was rapidly approaching.